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Description & Citation--Study No. 3471

Bibliographic Description

ICPSR Study No.:3471
 
Persistent URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.3886/ICPSR03471
 
Title:National Congregations Study, 1998
 
Principal Investigator(s):Mark A. Chaves
 
Funding Agency:Lilly Endowment, Inc., Smith-Richardson Foundation, Inc., The Louisville Institute, The Aspen Institute, and The Henry Luce Foundation.
 
Grant Number:Lilly Endowment, Inc.: #1997-1429-000, Smith-Richardson Foundation, Inc.: #9801-020, The Louisville Institute: #97-0074, The Aspen Institute, #98-1-NSRF-01D, and The Henry Luce Foundation: no grant number available
 
Bibliographic Citation:Chaves, Mark A. NATIONAL CONGREGATIONS STUDY, 1998 [Computer file]. ICPSR03471-v1. Chicago, IL: Mark A. Chaves, National Opinion Research Center [producer], 1998. Ann Arbor, MI: Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research [distributor], 2002. doi:10.3886/ICPSR03471
 

Scope of Study

Summary:The National Congregations Survey (NCS) elicited from respondents a description of their religious congregation, including its membership, the content of its worship service, and its other activities. NCS sample congregations were selected using hypernetwork sampling: respondents of the 1998 General Social Survey (GSS) who said that they attended religious services at least once a year were asked to report the name and location of their congregation, as well as an informed contact person. These congregations comprised the sample for the current study. Interviews with congregational informants took place via telephone (92 percent), or in person, if necessary. Most of the informants were clergy. Respondents were asked to describe their position, the year the congregation had been founded, when it began worshipping in its current location, and whether it was formally affiliated with a denomination or a local association of congregations. Informants also described the type of building the congregation met in, whether it belonged to the congregation, and whether visitors came just to view the building's architecture or artwork. Respondents were asked for the number of the congregation's members and participating nonmembers and full- and part-time staff, how many participated regularly, the number of worship services, and the demographic characteristics of members and the congregation's head or senior leader. Respondents described the worship service, including the length, languages used, and attendance, and whether the congregation sang, engaged in silent prayer or meditation, applauded, used incense in the services, or worshipped jointly with another congregation, among other activities. Informants listed and described programs sponsored by the congregation other than the main worship services, including religious education classes, musical groups, groups meeting around social justice, neighborhood, or community issues, vacation or summer religious schools, and groups to help people with substance abuse problems. Informants indicated whether meetings for purposes such as discussing people's problems or concerns at work, praying or meditating, discussing race relations, or taking an overnight trip had occurred in the past 12 months. Respondents also described the congregation's participation in social service, community development, or neighborhood organizing projects such as disaster relief programs, programs for victims of rape or domestic violence, cleaning highways or parks, programs focused on physical health needs, and recreational programs. Informants described the congregation's budget, the source of its funding, and recipients of the congregation's funds. In addition, informants were asked to describe the congregation's political and theological leanings from "more on the conservative side" to "more on the liberal side," and whether the congregation had rules or norms governing certain behaviors. Nearly all congregations were placed within a census tract, enabling the inclusion of selected census variables in the data file. Two weights are also included in this study: one that gives a greater weight to congregations that received multiple nominations from GSS respondents, and one that adjusts for over-representation of larger congregations.
 
Universe:United States religious congregations.
 
Data Type:survey data
 

Methodology

Sample:A representative sample of United States congregations was collected using a hypernetwork sampling technique. Respondents to the 1998 General Social Survey were asked to name the congregation at which they attended religious services. The congregations nominated by these respondents comprise the NCS sample.
 
Data Source:telephone interviews and personal interviews
 

Access and Availability

Note:A list of the data formats available for this study can be found in the summary of holdings. Detailed file-level information (such as record length, case count, and variable count) is listed in the file manifest.
 
Original ICPSR Release:2002-10-02
 
Dataset(s):
  • DS1: National Congregations Study, 1998
 

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